Originally Posted by
Sunnyjohn
I have a feeling I've read of similar situations over this part of Australia and there was a suggestion that high magnetic fields produced by the iron mines were affecting the controls. Anyone remember?
SunnyJohn: At first I though it might be April 1st, and you were taking the mickey out of us, but I see you are from Spain so will pity and have a laugh
with you, and maybe have a shout for you at the local pub. You've been roundly pranked, a common habit of those downunder who wax long about dropbears, and kangaroos strolling down the main thoroughfare of George St, Sydney with foreigners.
Check your atlas: Flights to New Zealand usually head EAST over water from Australia, and not lumps of magnetic ore that make the compass spin wildly like in the Bermuda Triangle.
You will also note the aircraft was significantly closer to New Zealand than SunnyOz, and the New Zealanders also have a somewhat warped sense of humor and a streak of larrikanism as well.,
Here's a deviant suggestion: We are nearing the peak of the 10 year sunspot cycle. Unless you can pinpoint sunspot activity as directly affecting the aircraft at that particular time and date, I strongly suspect whatever the problem was, it was NOT external and NOT location based,and was confined to that one aircraft. Conspirators in this thread are welcome to prove me wrong.